By Lisa Hawk
In the Middletown and Fall Creek Township areas, both sugar cane and sorghum were raised. These were historically used as sweeteners for the settlers of the area.
It is said that the Indians used maple tree liquid for sweetener. And, when settlers came to the area this became a favorite.
The maple season usually runs for about 4 weeks early each spring. Maple trees are tapped and the maple liquid is collected into buckets.
The liquid is then poured into large kettles and is boiled to form a thick sticky liquid.
One of the local sugar camps was just west of Middletown at the home of Vet Smith. Susan and Asa Smith (the mother and father of Vet) collected approximately 160 acres worth of maple liquid from their trees. Their goal each year was to make at least one barrel of thickened Maple Syrup for their family to use, but anything over that amount was sold to others in the area.
There were several sugar camps in the area and one large camp was owned by John Wilkinson.
The Zirkle family owned a Sorghum Mill that was established in about 1850.
Samuel and Isaac Zirkle started this mill. They both had large families that helped with the work in the mill. In later years Isaac’s 2 sons Ran the mill.
The first mill was operated by horse power. As Middletown came into the industrial age with the discovery of gas wells, the mill was ran using natural gas. When the natural gas was running in short supply, steam power was used.
When the mill was operating, can was brought in by wagons and later trucks from miles around. They averaged making 225 gallons per day for the 2 month season, making a total of 10,000 gallons each year.
The mill closed in 1941 because there was not enough sugar cane to finish down the molasses. in addition, the country was in WWII and lots of changes were being made and many supplies were short.
References:
- Memories Dreams and Reflections of Middletown, 1975.
- Sugar making during the war 1942.
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